In today's fast-paced and demanding world, the importance of perinatal mental health cannot be overstated. Whether it's midwives, doctors, antenatal teachers or counsellors, professionals in every field can benefit from mental health training. Not only does this training equip individuals with the n...

 I know from firsthand experience, anxiety in pregnancy is awful.

• Constantly feeling on edge.
• A sense of doom, that something is just about to go badly wrong.
• Intrusive thoughts about there being something wrong with your or your baby.
• Crying ALL THE TIME!
• And not understanding why because ev
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The term gaslight comes from the 1944 film of the same title, whereby the main character seeks to have his wife committed to an asylum.

He tampers with the gaslight, making it flicker and then denies that he sees this, making his wife question first her senses and then her sanity. This is just one ...

Last weekend was International day of the Midwife.

I absolutely want to celebrate, applaud and recognise excellent midwifery care that supports women to have safe, satisfying, and empowered births, BUT too often what is being practiced in Western maternity is Obstetric Nursing.

This is a world awa...

I was grateful to receive some new books for my birthday recently.

One I have been particularly enjoying is ‘Stolen Focus: why you can’t pay attention’ by Johann Hari, Author of Lost Connections another favourite book about the causes of depression.

I can confidently recommend Johann’s books for t...

Last week Guardian journalist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett wrote her opinion piece with the subheading: ‘NHS midwifery is in crisis and unmedicated birth in vogue, but doing it at home without medical support is simply dangerous.’

She goes on to denigrate the usefulness of hypnobirthing as she describes ...

The ideology of normal birth has been implicated in the avoidable deaths of mothers & babies again.

It was upsetting to watch the Panorama documentary last week ‘Midwives Under Pressure’. My heart goes out to the parents whose babies tragically died at Gloucester birthing unit.

However, apart from...

Shame is often experienced by parents who had a traumatic birth.

Shame arises out of a perception that we are wrong, unlovable, bad or unacceptable in some way. 

Sadly, it’s all to obvious why modern, medicalized birth is so often shaming of parents.

Experiencing birth as a series of intervention...

There has never been a greater need for more doulas than now. In fact market experts predict that the doula and birth coaching market will grow by 6.2% in the US next year and it will double in the next 10 years.

4. Traditional, woman centred midwifery, that supports parents birth choices and priori
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This week I have spoken to two different TBR Practitioners who are both relatively new to business but wanted to know how to attract more clients and get their business off the ground and flying high. 

*DISCLAIMER* I am not a marketing guru. 

I am someone who in my first year of flying solo in thi...

5 Simple ways to support parents in the early days of grief and loss and some things to avoid….

One of the most difficult things about grieving the death of a baby or pregnancy is the lack of validation and acknowledgement available from professionals, friends, family and society at large. 

It fee...